Man O' War [All videos, no photos]

Slaughter

 Image:Horsetalk

Ferdinand - 1986 Kentucky Derby winner and 1987 US Horse of the Year. 

Shipped to Japan as a breeding horse. 

2002 was slaughtered for human consumption.

Slaughter -- there is nothing glamorous about that. It gets even less when I think of what is happening to horses from the United States that are sold and then shipped to Canada and Mexico to be rendered into meat for human and animal consumption. 

I've been fortunate to have retrained a number of horses that came off the racetrack -- and I still love riding Thoroughbreds. (I've also had good luck with Quarter Horses off the track and like them too.) I've noticed since the influx of warmbloods into the USA, there are less people with the skills to retrain a horse off the racetrack. The sad fact is there are more horses that have outlived their usefulness for their current owners and unfortunately, there is no good resolution at this time. 

Why should we think about this? Let's look at some basics about horses. Horses live, on average, between 25 and 30 years and weigh 850 to 1,600 pounds. There are all types of horses out there and they are used for racing, jumping, dressage, pleasure riding, and ranch work, driving and showing. In addition, there are a variety of draft, pony, donkey and mules out there too.

Once you euthanize your horse, what happens next? Over the years, I've helped bury horses, which is no simple feat and may be illegal. How about cremation like our dogs and cats? That can work, but the crematorium needs to be able to handle an animals the size of a horse. You can ship the horse to a renderer, but the value of their by-products is not as high as it has been in the past. I have had horses in the past go to mink farms to feed the animals there and we also had a horse that died in the mountains of Colorado go to a kennel to feed the dogs. You might also be able to compost the remains or take them to the landfill for disposal.

What is happening now? Horses sent to slaughter have to travel farther to Mexico and Canada and they travel in far worse conditions. With the current economic situation, many horses are left to starve when owners can no longer feed them. Plus many people don't have the money for euthanizing and rendering because they cost money and abandonment becomes another concern.

I would hope that horse transportation will be better regulated and humane slaughter methods like Temple Grandin has developed for cattle will be used. I don't claim to have all the solutions, but I know that living in denial isn't beneficial for making the necessary changes.

I welcome your solutions to this problem and hope that we can all work together to create a better system for the horses.

Opposition to Genectically Engineered Alfalfa

This morning I had a number of e-mails about this topic in my Inbox -- I think it is worth sharing. This version is from Organic Valley Co-Op

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WE STAND UNITED IN OPPOSITION TO GE ALFALFA
January 31, 2011
Contact P.R. Elizabeth Horton
work 207-838-0084 work elizabeth.horton(at)organicvalley.coop

We stand united in opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to once again allow unlimited, nationwide commercial planting of Monsanto's genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa, despite the many risks to organic and conventional farmers.

Last spring more than 200,000 people submitted comments to the USDA highly critical of the substance and conclusions of its draft EIS on GE Alfalfa. Instead of responding to these comments and concerns, including expert comments from farmers, scientists, academics, conservationists, and food safety and consumer advocates, the USDA has chosen instead to listen to a handful of agricultural biotechnology companies.

USDA's decision to allow unlimited, nationwide commercial planting of Monsanto's GE Roundup Ready alfalfa without any restrictions flies in the face of the interests of conventional and organic farmers, preservation of the environment, and consumer choice. USDA has become a rogue agency in its regulation of biotech crops and its decision to appease the few companies who seek to benefit from this technology comes despite increasing evidence that GE alfalfa will threaten the rights of American farmers and consumers, as well as damage the environment.

The Center for Food Safety will be suing on this decision.

In the coming months, we will be seeing USDA proposals to allow unrestricted plantings of GE sugar beets, and GE corn and soy crops designed to resist toxic pesticides, such as 2-4D and Dicamba, highly toxic pesticides that pose a serious threat to our health and the environment. To win these critical and difficult battles, the entire organic community, and our allies in the conventional food and farming community, will have to work together.

Now is the time to unite in action. We need to work together to restore sanity to our food system, stop the deregulation of GE crops and join together against the forces that are seeking to silence hundreds of thousands of Americans.

As we move forward, we are united in opposing genetically engineered organisms in food production and believe that pressure to stop the proliferation of this contaminating technology must be focused on the White House and Congress. The companies responsible for this situation are the biotech companies whose GE technology causes genetic drift and environmental hazards that are not contained as the deregulation of genetically engineered alfalfa goes forward. The organic community stands together with consumer, farmer, environmental and business interests to ensure practices that are protective of health and the environment.

We urge you to join us today.

Sign up to receive action alerts:
http://cfs.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Register

Consider making a donation to the legal effort ahead:
https://secure3.convio.net/cfs/site/Donation2?1311.donation=form1&df_id=1311&JServSessionIdr004=vqetvh6lh5.app306a

Let the White House know that you do not support the deregulation of GE alfalfa:
http://ota.capwiz.com/ota/issues/alert/?alertid=24747501

Sincerely,

Christine Bushway, Organic Trade Association
Jay Feldman, Beyond Pesticides
Michael Funk, United Natural Foods Inc (UNFI)
Elizabeth Henderson, NOFA Interstate Council
Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farm
Liana Hoodes, National Organic Coalition
Kristina Hubbard, Organic Seed Alliance
Faye Jones, Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Service
Robby Kenner, Robert Kenner Films
Andrew Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety
Russell Libby, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners (MOFGA)
Ed Maltby, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance (NODPA)
Robyn O’Brien, Allergy Kids
Keith Olcott, Equal Exchange
Maria Rodale, Rodale Inc.
Eric Schlosser, Author
Robynn Schrader, National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA)
George Siemon, Organic Valley
Michael Sligh, Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI)
Megan Westgate, Non-GMO Project
Maureen Wilmot, Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF)
Enid Wonnacott, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT)